Education Minister To Address Critical Issues at Forum Meeting

With a new school year starting in only a few days, Minister of Education Desmond Bannister will be addressing critical education-related issues at a Bahamian Forum meeting at Sandyport on Sptember 1, 2010.

The session of Bahamian Forum with Minister of Education Desmond Bannister scheduled for August 24 at Barnacles, Sandyport has been postponed until September 1 at 7pm at Barnacles.

Bannister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Carmichael, is expected to address topics ranging from the practice of social promotion to parental involvement, as well as methods to improve overall scores and the addition of specialised teachers.

Dr David Allen, founder of the Bahamian Forum, said the event is dedicated to providing the public an opportunity to learn about what is happening around them and to contribute to those matters that will ultimately affect their families and their lives.

Since its launch in 1985, the forum has presented dozens of discussions on diverse topics.

The most recent, held in July, drew a standing room only crowd of nearly 200 who wanted to listen and talk to Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade and MP for Bamboo Town Branville McCartney.

“We believe that with as many as 60,000 children and young people in the Bahamas preparing to enter or re-enter school in the next days there can be no more timely topic than the state of education, both public and private in the Bahamas, and no better person to discuss it than the Minister of Education Desmond Bannister,” said Dr Allen.

Education receives the lion’s share of the national budget, nearly one in every four dollars spent by the
government.

“The minister has pledged his support for reforms in the education system that has failed many.

“His interest in literacy and increasing the presence of arts in the curriculum is well-established and it will be interesting to learn how schools are being selected for additional programmes, also how the public, system is prepared to handle what is expected to be a 15 per cent to 20 per cent default from the private school system as a result of economic hardship,” Dr Allen said.

There is no charge for admission to the Bahamian Forum but seating is limited. The event starts at 6:30pm at Barnacles, a restaurant on the water in Sandyport.